What Dreams May Come
by Linz005
Summary: Rogue is sent into a coma following a battle. She must bide her time in her mind while the others try to wake her. She spends more and more time with Magneto, but he is just in her mind right?
1. Prologue

Title: What Dreams May Come

Author: Tobby

Email: X-Men Movieverse…AU following events of X1

Pairing: Rogue/Magneto (You know your interested! Please no flames regarding pairing)

Summary: Rogue is in a coma faced with spending her time with only those in her mind. But they are only in her mind right?

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own nada except for the plot, but it could have been done before. I've never read the comic book so I also do not consider myself a 'canon' enthusiast

Feedback: Yes please, but constructive criticism only.

Distribution: Just drop me a line if you want it.

Warnings: None

A/N: I'm new to the fandom so I'm curious about reaction to this.

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Prologue: 

Rogue hadn't even seen it coming. She and the other X-Men were deep in the trenches of battle between themselves and several renegade mutants. She had thought that without the leadership of Magneto who was safely locked away in his plastic prison that opposition from other mutants would be non-existent. But in the last year since his arrest, renegades had attacked humans and Xavier's team almost ten times. A mutant with powers similar to Jean's and the Professor's had attacked her and easily dropped her from one of the upper levels of the house down to the ground.

Logan had thankfully returned a week earlier and with wicked speed was at her side to heal her. But she still didn't wake. She hung between life in death in a coma, Logan to weak to heal her any further right now. While she slept like Sleeping Beauty from a fairy tale, her mind become even more entwined with the voices in her head.

In her nightmares, Rogue had always been a passive observer of the atrocities inflicted on those who cluttered her psyche or she had been the person themselves. But now she was there with them knowing that she wasn't in reality, but feeling as though she were in a waking dream living her life in some kind of way.

She ran to Logan because that is where she always ran. She wanted him to tell her how to wake herself up. He couldn't though. He wasn't the Logan that she knew. He was more confused, more lost. He clung to her begging her to wake up as he had when he had tried to wake her himself. Rogue quickly realized that his persona was different than it had been. It was a fresh layer added just days earlier. David Cody couldn't help either. He was a bitter teen who still blamed her for his own coma. There was only one more place to run.

"Erik? Erik?" She struggled to keep her voice from trembling too much. The background of her home in Meridian where she talked to David faded away to black before it was replaced by the semi-posh surroundings of Magneto's one time New York apartment.

"What do you want?" Erik's voice dripped with venomous contempt. She had failed him. He had been his instrument to HIS world and she had failed. He was sitting at a chess board playing a constant game.

"Ah'm scared. Ah can't get out." Erik laughed.

"And why did you come to me? I'm sure the metal wonder would much rather comfort you." Rogue sat down across from him. She shook her head. "I didn't ask you to join me." She rolled her eyes.

"Mah mind, mah decision." She paused looking at the board. Since her persona had been mingled with the others, she had picked up certain skills. She moved one of Magneto's opposing pieces. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Ah've picked a few of your habits up. Logan can't help me. Something's wrong with him. And David…"

"Is afraid of you?" Magneto's tone was emotionless and matter of fact. "Yes, well, that doesn't mean I wish to be your helper. And what exactly do you expect me to do? I'm not Charles. I don't exactly know that much about bringing someone out of a coma." Rogue looked at him with fearful eyes.

"Ah didn't ask you to get me out. Ah just need someone to talk to while Ah'm here and you're mah last choice."

"Well when you put it like that." He moved a chess piece. "Go on. Make your move." He motioned to the board.


	2. You're Not Alone

Disclaimer and Notes: Prologue/Part One

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Chapter One: You're Not Alone 

Rogue's days and nights blended together. Sometimes she would sleep when the mood struck her, though she didn't know that she truly had to. She didn't like to sit alone when she was awake. One day while sitting with Magneto playing chess as had become there custom, he asked her why.

"I'm beginning to believe that you shall never leave me alone again." Rogue thought she might cry when he said that. What if she never woke up? What if she was on life support and they decided to take her off? Would she die without ever waking up again? Without ever touching anyone again?

"I don't even know how long I've been here. They'll wake me up…They will…"

"And who exactly are you trying to convince of that one?" He sneered. Her eyes watered with unshed tears. He noticed and it actually appeared that he cared. "I wasn't talking about you wake up, I was talking about you leaving me alone." Magneto clarified.

"I don't want to." Rogue quickly amended this statement. Even if his company was bearable she hardly wanted him to know that. "When I'm alone I feel lost, cold..." She looked down at her hands allowing the tears to fall. Maybe it was his own memories of feeling afraid, alone and lost, but he reached for her hand.

"You're not alone." He squeezed her fingers gently.

Magneto woke with a start in his cell. This was nearly the fifth time he had dreamt of Rogue. Five days earlier, he had barely given her a thought since Liberty Island. His own words had shocked him. "You're not alone." Where had thoughts of this nobody girl who had been nothing more than a means to end for him come from? Had she served her purpose perhaps he would feel that she deserved reverence. But as it was she was just another one of Charles's students who would never know the severity of the war at hand.

"When did you get here, Erik?" Rogue only called Magneto by his birth name in her mind. In the waking world she had never referred to him in such a civil manner.

"1949." They were in his library. Magneto sitting at his desk while Rogue perused his many tomes.

"Were you alone?"

"I was always alone. My parents were dead and I can only assume buried or burned more likely. I don't know that anyone else made it out alive." Rogue looked at him for a long moment.

"Ah'm sorry." He just nodded slightly. Rogue picked up a picture frame. "This you?" It was the picture of a young man roughly her age with another young man.

"I don't look that different, girl." He said pointedly taking the picture from her hand. "But yes that is me and Charles from our first year as friends."

"You guys were close, huh?" Again he just nodded. Rogue bit her lip smiling a bit devilishly. "How close?" He walked to her and stopped in front of her.

"Very close." He leaned close to her face. "I dislike games, Marie." She was surprised by the use of her name. "If you can call me Erik, I can call you Marie. Now why don't you ask the real question rather than beating around the bush."

"Were you two like a couple?"

"We were occasional lovers, but I would never have called us a couple. At the time I merely wished to attach myself to anyone who would have me." He stepped away from her and returned to his desk.

"Ah was just curious is all. Everyone always wondered about you to. So how…"

"Do you ever run out of questions?" Rogue looked into his eyes.

"Not when it comes to you. Ah barely knew you before you kidnapped me and the more Ah know, the less Ah understand. You are the most confusing person Ah've ever met. Can Ah ask my question?" Magneto threw his hands up in mock surrender. "How'd you get the English accent? Ah mean you came from Poland to New York…"

"Where my only friend and English tutor was in fact English. I barely spoke the language when I met Charles so I followed his speech patterns." Rogue just nodded her understanding.

"Ah'm tired…" It was the first time she had really felt the need to sleep. It wasn't just something to fill the tedium, this was a need. The library faded and her bedroom from Xavier's filled the space.

"This is your room?" The still present Magneto asked with peaked curiosity.

"Mmhhmm, why?"

"I know this room well from when I lived at the Mansion with Charles." Rogue just shrugged as she laid down on the bed.

"Can we talk more when Ah wake up?"

"I suppose. As you put it, my dear, your mind, your decision." She fell asleep.

Meanwhile in the outside world…

"I don't understand this at all. Her mind is completely closed off. Even the Professor can't reach her." Jean said shaking her head. "Every time we think we've gotten a hold of something mentally tangible it vanishes. It's like something is holding her in there. Like she doesn't want to leave." Logan shook his head angrily.

"Let me try again. She might need more of my healing, Jeannie. I promised her I'd protect her."

"I don't know Logan. The mind's delicate. You could do more damage than good."

And also at that time, Magneto was plotting his escape from his plastic prison.


	3. Rooms of Understanding

Disclaimer and Notes: Prologue/Part One

Review Responses:

Ashnan: I'm glad you like the story so far. I hope you keep enjoying it.

Feyechelon: I love this pairing and if it wasn't for this pairing I don't think I would ever have written anything for the fandom. I'm glad someone else likes it. I hope the next chapter lives up to your expectations!

Janey: Thanks for the review. The other chapters are averaging about three pages or so. The prologue was just a short, teaser to gage response. The battle will get brought up eventually…Can't give everything away all at once!

A/N: I would just like to reiterate that I am solely familiar with the movie. Therefore only 'canon' I'm working with for this story is X1. Thnx again!

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Chapter Two: Rooms of Understanding

There was no telling how long Rogue slept. She would look at the clock in her room, but even she knew the numbers were arbitrary.

"Erik?" The moment she called his name he was there, one of the perks of her subconscious she supposed. She was at once glad that she was not alone and saddened by the fact that she hadn't completely woken up. For one brief moment, she thought perhaps she would open her eyes in the med lab with all the X-Men standing over her like in a movie or something.

Life's not a movie, though.

"So this was really your room back when you lived at the Mansion with the Professor?" She said picking up the conversation virtually where they had left off. Another perk of her being in her mind.

"Yes."

"Huh? That's weird. After the Liberty Island thing, the Professor said that Ah might be more comfortable in my own room. This is the one he gave me." She looked at him. He didn't seem to think anything of that point. "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Are you that foolish? Charles is a telepath. He knows that you have my memories in your mind. He probably thought it would help you cope with it." Rogue looked hurt. They hadn't fought in a while and he now he was making her feel like an idiot.

"Well, he never talks about you. And believe me Ah've tried. Every time I had nightmares about you, Ah'd talk to him, but he hated having to talk about you. How was Ah supposed to cope when he didn't even tell me?" She snapped at him. That stung Magneto a bit as well. Charles never talked about him fine, but Magneto had always thought that even without friendship, there wasn't outright hate.

Awkward, tense silence fell on them for the first time since she had begun conversing with him in her mind. Rogue couldn't take it much longer and finally spoke up. "So is this what it looked like back then? Ah haven't really changed anything, but other people might have lived in here in between." Magneto sighed and looked around.

"It's the same with the exception of a few pieces of art that I took with me and my personal belongings." He was sitting on the bed now across from her. "And why have you not redecorated?" Rogue looked down at her palms noticing that she wasn't wearing gloves and taking to memorizing the lines on her hands. "I've answered your questions with more patience than I even knew I possessed. Shouldn't you do the same for me?"

"Redecorate with what?" She saw the tears hit her hand like raindrops. She hadn't cried in a while. She always felt the tears coming and held them back. Suddenly the scenery changed.

"And where are we now?" Magneto had a guess, but it seemed polite to ask.

"Meridian. Mah room." Rogue sniffed back the tears. "Everything Ah owned in the world was in this room. Ah guess it still is or mah father burned it all."

"I take it your father did not approve of you?"

"He thought Ah was a demon. He was a preacher and Ah was an abomination of God." Magneto's eyes rested on her. They weren't cold or mocking as she expected them to be. She was waiting for him to say I told you so, don't you understand now, but he didn't.

"I'm sorry." He rested a hand on her shoulder gently. "I am sorry, Rogue." He knew she didn't believe him.

"Ah don't get you. Aren't you just dyin' to tell me that people like mah dad, they're the reason that you wanted to kill me?" He shook his head.

"I don't want people to be the way they are, they merely are." Magneto paused. "I didn't want to kill you or anyone else. It's simply self-preservation." Rogue thought for a moment before making a statement she had never made out loud.

"Ah don't hate you for doing it. Ah think Ah get it more than Ah thought. But sometimes Ah wish you'd succeeded. Ah don't have a life in the world the way it is. And sometimes Ah wish that after David got hurt, that Ah'd done the same or worse to mah father."

"And that is the reason for the war at hand, Rogue! Because you shouldn't be afraid. None of us should."

It was always helpful to have a shapeshifter on hand. Mystique transformed herself into one of the guards and easily escorted Magneto out of the prison. An appearance by Senator Kelly declaring that the prisoner was being sent some place more heavily secured convinced any naysayers to let them go on there way.

"We're going to need to keep a low profile." Mystique said shifting into her normal blue façade. "Xavier should be a bit preoccupied for a while at least. The girl, Rogue, she's in a coma." Magneto looked at her in disbelief. His dreams were continuing and in them he saw himself with Rogue telling her things he would never say out loud. And every time she was supposedly in a coma. Mystique continued going on about Rogue.

"There was some kind of mutant raid on the school. You've gained many followers it would seem. But the girl got in the way. Got herself dropped out of window in fact. Wolverine healed her again, but she hasn't woken up." Magneto felt like he already knew the story, which was odd to say the least. "At any rate, I doubt he'll even be informed that you've been moved."

"Very good. Now let's hurry back to the apartment. I long to use my powers again."

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Please RR...I have to know what people like or don't like! 


	4. The Way You Look Tonight

Disclaimer/Notes: Part 1/Prologue

LadyV77: I liked that part too...lol…I wanted to create some more connections between the two. Hopefully, there will be more stuff that you like as I go…

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Chapter Four: The Way You Look Tonight 

Magneto's powers were far from rusty. He had spent hours thinking about and recalling every possible way to manipulate a piece of metal over the long hours he spent in the solitary confinement of his cell. Now with a sheet of metal before him, his mind was free to do as it pleased and work its will. Mystique watched him for a while before she became impatient.

"Are you going to be at this all day?"

"Well, I have been waiting for this moment for quite some while now, my dear. I take it there is something you'd prefer me to do?" He glanced at Mystique allowing the piece of metal before him to fall to the ground.

"I assumed you and I would be picking up where we left off." Magneto and Mystique had always fueled each other's fire when the need had arisen. There wasn't a great deal of love between them nor was there all that much passion. But once again it was to one's advantage to have a shape shifter in one's midst. He was never with Mystique. He was with whomever he wanted or whomever she wished to be.

"Tell me who you want, Erik. Still pining for Charles after all these years…" Mystique turned into Magneto's one time lover. He didn't seem as impressed or as willing as this appearance had previously made him. "What do you want Erik? Who do you want?" She turned into Jean Gray then Storm and then Rogue, hardly expecting her to be the object of his affections. But the look in his eyes told her differently.

"Ah'm what you want then?" Without another word Magneto pulled Mystique into a passionate kiss. "Ah'll take that as a yes." Magneto pushed a piece of hair out of "Rogue's" face.

"You are the most beautiful person I've ever seen." He trailed kisses down her neck and the top of her breasts that Mystique had insured were bared by the low cut tank top she was wearing.

They made love in Erik's bed. Afterward Mystique turned back into herself. There was some bittersweet irony to the fact that Mystique who always swore that she should be allowed to be herself made love to a man as someone else. She left the room not long after they had finished with barely a word. Erik in turn fell asleep thinking of Rogue.

"Hello." He said softly when he saw her sitting in her room from Meridian.

"Hello-yourself. Ah didn't think Ah'd be seeing you again today." Rogue said. She was putting together the pieces of a puzzle upside down. She looked up at him. "You were different earlier." Magneto was starting to question these dreams especially now that he knew Rogue was in a coma.

"How was I different, my dear?" Rogue let out a small, bitter laugh.

"Well for one thing you weren't being that nice. You wouldn't talk to me barely at all and then you only talked about that machine. Tellin' me every detail of your plan. You scared me so Ah left and came here."

"I see. I'm very sorry." She looked at him with an incredulous look, but finally just shrugged in defeat. Magneto, however, filed this information away for the time being. Something odd was definitely going on and he was going to figure it out. She went back to piecing together the puzzle. Magneto looked at the brown pieces of cardboard she was putting together.

"What are you doing, Marie?" She smiled at him putting the last few pieces in.

"When Ah was little before my powers showed up, mah father used to go off on rants all the time about one thing or another. He liked to ground me and usually in a day or so mah mama would tell me to go apologize and Ah would. But in the mean time, Ah'd have to keep mahself busy." She carefully turned the puzzle over revealing the picture.

"Clever." He smiled back at her.

"Ah know Ah said you were mean to me before, but why are you being so nice now?" He was sitting on the bed which Rogue then slid onto from the floor.

"I suppose I am just in a very good mood. Shall we leave this place?" Rogue nodded and within moments they were back in the room from Xavier's. Rogue walked over to the vanity and began primping her hair.

"Ah haven't seen myself since Ah got here." She ran her fingers through her hair, but it had already been neat. Clearly her appearance was kept decent by her mind.

"Have I mentioned that I love what you've done to your hair?" Magneto grinned devilishly at her. She in turn glared at him for a moment before turning back to the camera.

"Ah thought about getting rid of it even bought dye, but…" She bit her lip. "Ah kinda like it." She turned back to him with a soft smile pulling at her lips. Magneto walked toward her and took one of the white strips in his fingers. He played with it for a moment before pushing it behind her ear. His fingers then brushed against her cheek.

"It suits you." His palm rested on her cheek. She looked at the floor closing her eyes. Magneto's hand dropped back to his side. Perhaps he had made a mistake at even hinting to her that he thought of her in any way. He took a few steps back.

"What's the matter?" Rogue's eyes shot up and looked at his retreating form.

"I should be asking you the same question, my dear." She shook her head walking toward him.

"Ah didn't tell you to stop. Ah…Ah was thinking about the real world and the real you…"

"Are you so sure that I'm not the real me?"

"You can't be real. It doesn't matter anyway. If Ah was awake, we'd be enemies and you wouldn't be able to touch me. That's what was bothering me. Ah was thinking that you couldn't and probably wouldn't touch me."

"Would you want me to?" Rogue wasn't sure what to say. Admitting that she did meant admitting it to herself. She finally nodded. Before Magneto could say anything else, he woke back to a reality where Rogue was in a coma. He would have to see her. See her while he was awake, while she was at Xavier's. Something strange was going on and the least of it was his feelings for this young girl.

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A/N: I know it may seem like things are getting to a head fairly quickly, but believe me I have much, much more planned. This is still only the beginning. Please keep RR ing 


	5. The Girl In Question

Disclaimer/Notes: Part 1/Prologue

LadyV77: Glad you liked the chapter. I'm posting them as they get written. I can't guarantee any consistency just cuz I'm in the middle of finals. But spring break means two hour flights followed by two hour drives home/back to the airport so I tend to write a lot then. I wasn't sure anyone would like this but me so I'm glad there's some other people. I'll try to update as promptly as possible.

A/N: Oops, I mis-numbered the last chapter! This also says Chapter Four, but it's a different chapter I swear!

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Chapter Four: The Girl In Question

He was gone again. Rogue didn't get it. If she called Magneto again, he would re-appear, but things would be different between them. The only things he would talk about were the events before and up to Liberty Island. She was the way she remembered him before she became trapped in her mind. The way he had always been in her head. And it was at these times that Rogue would get tired and cold as she thought about the outside world. But the thought of the other Magneto returning made the idea of staying bearable.

"Damnit!" Jean Gray exclaimed stumbling back from the unconscious Rogue into a nearby chair. Scott and Logan were both there and at her side immediately. "I thought I had her. I could feel her and just as I was about to pull her out she pulled back. It doesn't make any sense." Logan looked at the very pale, very silent, very still Marie.

"C'mon, kid. What is going on in that head of yours?" Logan said softly. Scott helped Jean to her feet.

"Plenty from what I can tell." Jean said to Logan. "All the monitors indicate that she has excellent brain activity and her vitals are decent. At certain times during the night they seem to peak, but I have no idea why." Scott held onto Jean leading her out of the med lab.

"You need to get some rest, sweetie. You can try again in a few days." Jean nodded and the three headed out. They were met by Bobby Drake in the outside corridor.

"Hi Professors, I wanted to see her. Would that be ok?" Bobby smiled sheepishly. Jean looked at him sadly, but nodded her consent. Scott opened the door for him. "Don't stay to long, ok?" Bobby nodded.

Only moments later the X-Men were out of sight and Bobby transformed into Mystique. Magneto had been hiding in the shadows glad that the others were distracted when Bobby asked to be let into the room. "I'm pleased that security is so wonderful here." He said sarcastically.

"If I had been anyone else, it probably would have been. But that boy is practically Rogue's boyfriend. How could they refuse?" Mystique said moving toward Rogue's hospital like bed. She had hoped mentioning Rogue's boyfriend would hurt Magneto, but if it did he didn't let on about it.

"Yes, I suppose they couldn't." He stood at her bedside looking down at her. The majority of Rogue's skin was bared. She was wearing a tank top and for the first time since Magneto had been looking for her and her hands were free from gloves. He reached for her hand, but Mystique caught his wrist.

"You can't touch her. Just cause she's in a coma doesn't mean that her skin isn't still poison." Magneto looked at Mystique with murder in his eyes. Mystique knew instantly that it had been a mistake to call Rogue poison, but she didn't back down. He pulled his hand back from Mystique and instead of holding her hand, he touched her hair gently.

There was a noise in the outside corridor and the pair could hear the voices of Professor Xavier and Logan approaching the room. Magneto had already briefed Mystique on how to get out of the lab if the need should arise (one of the perks of being intimately familiar with the plans of such a place) and they both moved toward the alternate exit. Magneto hesitated briefly before taking her chart. They waited in the shadows of the exit for Logan and Xavier to enter because Magneto wanted to hear what was said.

"I am as confused as Jean. I only know that right now she is in no real danger. She is likely spending her time with you or at least the you that is in her head. I'm sure you are still protecting her from any other destructive forces in there." Magneto rolled his eyes. If Charles only knew.

Back at his apartment, Magneto poured over the many pages in her chart. Clearly, this file contained more than just information about the coma. There was information about her parents (though this was only what Rogue had already told him herself), medical history, detailed descriptions about various ailments she had suffered (a few at his own hands) and then the information about the coma.

Jean had written about the battle, though not in much detail. Rogue had been asleep in her room. The alarm had sounded as it had many times recently and Rogue immediately began helping the smaller children into the tunnels that led out. She was supposed to leave too, but she went back to get something, though Jean had no idea what or why according to the file. She had ended up in an altercation with one of the mutants on the top floor of the Mansion. Neither possessed that much physical strength, but the other mutant had strong telekinetic powers. He had raised Rogue off of her own feet and thrown her through the window out onto the ground.

It wasn't until the battle was over that the others even found her lying on the ground. They took her to the med lab where Jean discovered that several of Rogue's bones were broken and Rogue was also hooked to a ventilator as they weren't sure how long she would be able to breathe on her own. Logan had touched her for as long as he could to heal her bones and then he did so again the next day. The only thing that no one could do using medical means or mutant means was wake her.

Magneto fell asleep wondering what he would tell Rogue when he saw her. A part of him wanted to tell her that he had seen her outside, in the real world, while the rest of him didn't want to ruin the few precious moments he had with her. He justified to himself that he really didn't have any means to bring her back. He wasn't about to go tell Charles that he was having dreams about Rogue that might not be all that innocent.

"Ah was getting lonely." Rogue said dreamily as she opened her eyes and saw Magneto standing before her bed. "Where've you been?"

"Nowhere in particular. I thought it best to let you sleep." She smiled at him sitting up.

"So are we going to talk about before?" Rogue finally asked after silence fell for a while. Magneto looked at her silently. "Right before you disappeared on me again, you asked me if I wanted you to touch me and Ah said yes."

"Thank-you, but I remembered without your little recap, my dear." She rolled her eyes, but laughed a little too. The way he was looking at her made it impossible to be angry with him for one sarcastic comment. He sat down facing her and cupped her cheek in his hand. Her smile widen and she slid closer to him.

"Ah take it that the feeling is mutual then, huh, sugah."

"You tell me." Magneto leaned toward her and Rogue was pulled in as surely as she would be if she were made of metal. Their lips touched and for a brief moment Rogue was fearful that she would be able to hurt him even in her mind. She pulled back with a slight gasp afraid his fate would be the same as David.


	6. Breaking Through and Falling Back

Disclaimer/Notes: Part 1/Prologue

LadyV77: Oh you didn't rush me…I just feel bad for starting a story during finals, though it is a nice distraction…But reviews rock and only feed my muse! I'm glad to hear you'd stick with my story and don't worry Mags and the X-Men will be meeting up eventually!

IvyZoe: I've never read the comics, but I was just like Magneto/Rogue that should happen. But then I also ship for Hermione/Snape in Harry Potter and Buffy/Giles on Buffy so maybe its just a thing with me lol. Thanks for the review. Hope it keeps going the way you like it.

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Chapter Five: Breaking Through and Falling Back

"What's the matter?" Rogue was crying a little. "Rogue…Marie, are you alright?" She nodded wiping away her tears. Magneto closed the space between them once more and took Rogue into a warm embrace stroking her hair gently.

"Ah was afraid…Ah know that you were touching me before and Ah was touching you, but Ah still thought that maybe….The last time Ah kissed someone…Well you know that story…Ah just thought it might happen even here." She held to him tighter allowing herself to touch and feel for the first time in a long time. She never wanted to let go for fear that she would never be able to touch another person again.

"It's alright, darling. Shh…" She sniffed a few more times and leaned out of his embrace looking up into his eyes.

"If Ah wasn't standing right here Ah'd never have believe it." Magneto's brow furrowed in confusion. "C'mon, you holding me, being so sweet, your eyes looking all loving and warm."

"I'm not as much of a monster as you think."

"Well mah frame of reference is a bit tainted since you did try to kill me."

"Must you always bring that up." She laughed.

"Erik…" Rogue said quietly leaning back against his chest. "Ah like calling you that better than Magneto."

"Yes, well I rather prefer Marie to Rogue." He kissed the top of her head once more.

"Can we just stay here forever?"

Magneto cursed himself for waking up at the moment knowing that Rogue would clearly notice his absence from her arms. It was going to take quite a bit of convincing to explain this one. It was nearly morning and it seemed unlikely that he would see Rogue again until that night.

Rogue didn't understand where Magneto went when he disappeared like that, but there were so many things about her mind that Rogue didn't understand. She would ask him when he returned where he went. She changed the setting to the gardens outside the mansion on a beautiful summer day. She stretched out on the warm green grass watching the clouds pass over head.

No one ever intruded on Rogue in this prison-esque sanctuary. Logan and David left her more alone than they ever did when she was conscious (probably because she knew how to get away from them now) and Magneto only turned up at certain times. It was at these times, though, when she was alone that she would suddenly get cloud and tired. There was one major difference on this particular day, however.

Just as she was dozing off when she heard a familiar voice.

Rogue, Rogue…Can you hear me?

Dr. Gray? Where are you? What's going on.

Rogue, listen to me. Your in a coma. You have to listen to me so I can help you wake up and come back to us.

Come back?

Yes. Everything will be the way it was.

The way it was…No, Ah can't…Ah can't hear you…. Rogue forced the voice of Jean away and tried hard to stay awake. She thought about Magneto. Erik'll come back…It'll be ok.

Jean collapsed on the med lab floor. Logan and Scott helped her to her feet.

"No luck, huh, Jeannie?" She shook her head.

"I talked to her. She's in there and she could hear me. At first anyway. Then she said she couldn't. She said Erik'll come back."

"Erik?" Both Scott and Logan said uncertain.

"You don't think she means…"

"Magneto." Logan growled. "I don't care if it's just his memories that bastard is not going to hurt Marie. Not now. Not like this." Jean nodded trying to regain her balance.

"We have to talk to the Professor."

Jean, Logan and Scott went straight to the Professor's office where Charles Xavier was already awaiting their arrival. "Look Chuck, we've gotta do something if Marie is in danger."

"I quite agree, Logan and I must admit I am at a lost as to why we can't reach her better. She really mentioned Erik as the cause of her state?" Jean hesitated.

"No not exactly, but she said he would be back. I think the part of Magneto in her head must have some kind of control over here." Xavier nodded. "I was thinking perhaps Magneto could be helpful in this situation. The real Magneto."

"Are you crazy? He'd probably just do more damage."

"I tend to agree with Jean here, Scott." The Professor said. "Whatever power the small portion of Magneto in Rogue's head might have over her could be overpowered if the real Erik were to attempt to contact her. It would be quite difficult to accomplish, but not impossible. I'll speak with Erik tomorrow when I go to the prison to see him." The group was satisfied with this and left the office.

Rogue spent the better part of the day pacing around frantically waiting for Magneto to return. She was terrified, terrified of going back to the real world. What was there for her? She couldn't touch anyone, couldn't have any sort of intimate relationship with anyone. The rest of the world feared her. She was after all one of those dangerous mutants the government was so worried about. Even other mutants were afraid of her. And above all things she was convinced that in the outside world there would be no Erik. She couldn't imagine how there could be.

"He couldn't love me. Not the real him. We wouldn't work. It wouldn't!" Rogue was saying frantically over and over.

"What wouldn't work, my dear?" She spun around and saw Magneto standing there unsure of how long he had been gone and how long he had been standing there.

"Oh, Erik, Ah didn't see you there. Ah…Forget it. It doesn't matter. Not here." Rogue walked over to his open arms and rested her head against his chest.

"Ah love you, Erik." She whispered the words as if they were prayer. Magneto was surprised by her admission. He hadn't really expected those words ever let alone now. He had closed himself off from love for a long time. He'd loved his parents and they were killed, had loved and lost Charles. He was beginning to remember why love had hurt so badly in remembering how wonderful it felt.

"I love you, too, Marie."


End file.
